Passive matrix addressing of optical phased arrays

An optical phased array comprising:

• a plurality of phase control elements disposed along N rows and M columns forming an N×M array, wherein phase control elements disposed along ith row are coupled to ith row signal line and phase control elements disposed along jth column are coupled to jth column signal line, wherein N and M are positive integers, wherein i is a row index varying from 1 to N, and wherein j is a column index varying from 1 to M, wherein each row signal line is coupled to a different one of N digital-to-analog converter (DACs);
• and
• a column select block having M switches each configured to couple one of the M rows of the phase control elements to a ground terminal in response to a column select signal.

An optical phased array comprising:

• a plurality of phase control elements disposed along N rows and M columns forming an N×M array, wherein phase control elements disposed along ith row are coupled to ith row signal line and phase control elements disposed along jth column are coupled to jth column signal line, wherein N and M are positive integers, wherein i is a row index varying from 1 to N, and wherein j is a column index varying from 1 to M, wherein each row signal line is coupled to a different one of a first N digital-to-analog converters (DACs), and wherein each column signal line is coupled to a different one of a second M DACs.

A method of forming an optical phased array comprising:

• forming a plurality of phase control elements disposed along N rows and M columns forming an N×M array, wherein phase control elements disposed along ith row are coupled to ith row signal line and phase control elements disposed along jth column are coupled to jth column signal line, wherein N and M are positive integers, wherein i is a row index varying from 1 to N, and wherein j is a column index varying from 1 to M, wherein each row signal line is coupled to a different one of N digital-to-analog converters (DACs);
• and
• forming a column select block having M switches each configured to couple one of the M rows of the phase control elements to a ground terminal in response to a column select signal.

A method of forming an optical phased array comprising:

• forming a plurality of phase control elements disposed along N rows and M columns forming an N×M array, wherein phase control elements disposed along ith row are coupled to ith row signal line and phase control elements disposed along jth column are coupled to jth column signal line, wherein N and M are positive integers, wherein i is a row index varying from 1 to N, and wherein j is a column index varying from 1 to M, wherein each row signal line is coupled to a different one of a first N digital-to-analog converters (DACs), and wherein each column signal line is coupled to a different one of a second M DACs.